Lorenzo Wins, Stoner Crashes in Jerez

Jorge Lorenzo won his first race of the 2011 season today in front of his home crowd at the Jerez circuit. Lorenzo was joined by Dani Pedrosa and Nicky Hayden on the podium.

It was a wet race in Jerez, which caused slippery and unpredictable conditions. Valentino Rossi, Casey Stoner, Marco Simoncelli, and Ben Spies all took turns riding through the gravel today. Out of a 17 rider race, only 12 were able to cross the finish line. The accident filled race left Jorge Lorenzo alone at the top, as he claimed victory 19 seconds ahead of his closest competitor.

Behind Pedrosa there was another 10 second gap until Nicky Hayden and Hiroshima Aoyoma crossed the line in third and fourth.

Casey Stoner, who was the race winner in Qatar, was the clear favorite for today’s race. Stoner started from pole position and was having a good race until an incident with Valentino Rossi left him on the side of the track.

Stoner had to call it quits for the day, while Rossi was able to remount and finish fifth. Stoner’s DNF drops him to third in the overall standings behind Lorenzo and his teammate Pedrosa.